4. ANTONIO2 TAFOYA (JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born 1679 in El Real de Talpujagua, Nueva Espana (Mexico), and died February 17, 1753 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico. He married (1) MAGDALENA. He married (2) MARIA LUISA GODINES April 28, 1697, daughter of ANTONIO GODINES and MARIANA ZUNIGA. She was born 1680 in Mexico City, Nueva Espana, and died September 15, 1747 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico.

Notes for ANTONIO TAFOYA:

On a trip north from Guadalupe del Paso, he carried the dues of the Conquistadora Confraternity to Santa Fe.

5. LUGARDA3 TAFOYA (ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born 1700, and died August 22, 1789 in Santa Cruz de la Canada. She married JUAN SAYAGO(GONZALEZ). He was born 1689.

Notes for LUGARDA TAFOYA:

Lugarda was married, but her children all took Tafoya as their last name. She was a well-to-do person who in later life made it a practice to take abandoned orphaned Indian babies and baptize them. She gave them all the last name of Tafoya! Their first name was always an Indian name.

Child of LUGARDA TAFOYA and JUAN(GONZALEZ) is:

7. i. PEDRO4 TAFOYA, d. 1790.

6. PHELIPE3 TAFOYA (ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born 1707 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and died May 31, 1771 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico. He married (1) MARGARITA SAYAGO (GONZALEZ)DE LA ROSA 1728 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, daughter of DIEGO(ARROYO) and TERESADE MENDOZA. He married (2) TERESA FERNANDEZ DE LA PEDRERA 1750 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, daughter of JUANDE LA PEDRERA and MARIADE GRACIA. She was born Abt. 1722.

Notes for PHELIPE TAFOYA:

Phelipe was a military officer, a doctor and a lawyer. He was elected mayor of Santa Fe in about 1750. Also, was the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of New Mexico. He was a charter officer of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Light, an organization that exists to this date in Santa Fe.

9. MARIA FELIPA4 TAFOYA (PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born May 01, 1752, and died April 09, 1782. She married ANACLETO MIERA May 29, 1768. He was born 1742 in Chihuahua, Mexico, and died 1815.

Children of MARIA TAFOYA and ANACLETO MIERA are:

i. MARIA JOSEPHA5 MIERA, b. September 12, 1769.

ii. FRANCISCO XAVIER MIERA, b. February 19, 1772.

iii. TERESA ROSALIA MIERA, b. November 08, 1773.

iv. BRUNO MIERA, b. 1774.

v. MARIA DE LAS NIEVES MIERA, b. August 06, 1776.

10. MARIA JOSEPHA4 TAFOYA (PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born March 30, 1756, and died Abt. 1785. She married JOAQUIN LAIN HERREROS September 25, 1768. He was born 1742 in Santa Cruz, (Castilla La Vieja) Spain, and died 1799 in Nuevo Mexico.

13. JOSE MARIANO5 TAFOYA (JOSEPH MIGUEL4, PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born August 04, 1778 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico), and died 1840 in Galisteo, Nuevo Mexico. He married JOSEFA GUTIERREZ July 27, 1801 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She died April 1850 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico.

Notes for JOSE MARIANO TAFOYA:

Jose Mariano Tafoya was a Mexican army major. He was carrying gold from Mexico City to Santa Fe in 1843 to pay the army personnel stationed there. Just outside of Galisteo, New Mexico the convoy was ambused and all the gold was lost. Jose Mariano was the only casualty; he was shot with an arrow right through his heart. Army personnel were armed with bows and arrows at that time; there was speculation that he may have been killed by his own troops because of the nature of his cargo, which was not recovered. Source: Santiago Tafolla

16. RAFAEL6 TAFOYA (JOSE MARIANO5, JOSEPH MIGUEL4, PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born 1806, and died October 22, 1849 in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico. He married (1) RAFAELA MARTIN. She was born 1820. He married (2) VICENTA BARELAS.

18. SANTIAGO6 TAFOLLA (JOSE MARIANO5 TAFOYA, JOSEPH MIGUEL4, PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born July 23, 1837 in /Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico), and died October 29, 1911 in /Seguin, Texas. He married (1) CATARINA JUANITA TORRES June 21, 1860 in San Antonio, Texas. She died February 1868 in Comfort, Texas. He married (2) ANASTASIA SALINAS June 11, 1869 in /San Antonio, Texas, daughter of MARTIN SALINAS and JOSEFADE ABREGO. She was born 1840 in /Mexico, and died in /Pearsall, Texas.

Notes for SANTIAGO TAFOLLA:

Ran away from his Santa Fe home when twelve or thirteen years old by hopping aboard a wagon train headed East along the Santa Fe Trail. Eventually joined US Army's Second Cavalry as a bugler while living in Washington, DC, where he had gone when he ran away from home. Was assigned to Camp Verde in Bandera, Texas in 1855 as a cavalry bugler. Served with Robert E. Lee and William Sydney Johnston, both of Civil War fame. Was discharged on April 1, 1860. Remained in Bandera and bought a ranch. In 1862, joined the Texas 33rd Cavalry under the Confederate banner, also as a bugler. Returned to Bandera after the war and took up farming, was a traveling salesman and generally worked at whatever he could make a living at. Was a Mason and once when a priest asked him to tell him about the activities of the Masons in the area, he refused. Later, when the priest asked him to tell him the same thing from the confession booth, he again refused and was ex-communicated from the Catholic Church. He had traveled to Georgia when he lived in Washington, DC, and while in Georgia had attended a Methodist sponsored school for boys. When the priest threw him out of the Catholic Church, he went back to the Methodist Church. He began preaching the Word of God and soon caught the attention of the Methodist Bishop for South Texas. Was ordained as a Methodist preacher, one of the first half dozen Hispanic Methodist preachers in the US. He died at age 75 while preaching in church one Sunday morning on October 29, 1911 in Seguin, Texas. By that time he had established Methodist Churches from San Marcos, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico.

Rode broncs under the name of Bronco Pete for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Won event in Madison Square Garden while facing his horse backwards "cause anybody should be able to ride them facing forwards." Rode on cattle drives up the Chisolm Trail. Later served as a mounted policeman in San Antonio. Although it is known that Buffalo Bill's Show performed before royalty in England, it can only be assumed that Pete was there. Buffalo Bill was not one to give credit to any individual performers. The show bulletins only refer to the "indians and the mexicans."

26. GABRIEL DIMAS7 TAFOLLA (SANTIAGO6, JOSE MARIANO5 TAFOYA, JOSEPH MIGUEL4, PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born March 25, 1870, and died January 01, 1945 in Pearsall, Texas. He married ANTONIA MANCHA, daughter of JOSE MANCHA and FELICIANA RODRIGUEZ. She was born April 05, 1876 in Uvalde, Texas, and died August 08, 1914 in Pearsall, Texas.

Notes for GABRIEL DIMAS TAFOLLA:

Was teaching English to local hispanics in Uvalde, Texas at the age of 16. Later taught school in Buda and Roma, Texas as well. Worked as a bookkeeper for a lumber yard in Monterrey, Mexico just before the turn of the century when his father, Santiago, was assigned as a Methodist preacher there. At least one of Gabriel's kids was born in Monterrey. He returned to Frio Town, Texas and worked as a farmer. He moved to Pearsall, Texas and worked as an interpreter for the courts in Frio County. I remember that he had an office in his house and would counsel with the hispanic population on every matter that they felt they needed help on. Was reputed to be one of only two men in Pearsall who owned a store bought suit; the other man so identified was the local banker. Was a charter member and president of the Pearsall chapter of the Order of the Sons of America, an organization that later merged with another civil rights group representing Hispanics in South Texas. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was the result of this merger.

More About GABRIEL DIMAS TAFOLLA:

Fact 1: Was first Hispanic school teacher in Uvalde, Texas. Later taught school in Buda

Fact 2: Texas, and in Roma, Texas. Later was a farmer, and very late in his life was a

Fact 3: translator for the county court house in Pearsall, Texas.

Notes for ANTONIA MANCHA:

Family records indicate that Antonia Mancha was born in Uvalde. St Louis Baptismal Records, Vol I, page 269A, #1400, in Castroville, Texas, state that she was baptized in May 1876 as "Maria Antonia de Carmel Mancha, born on April 5, 1876, daughter of Jose Mancha and his wife Maria Feliciana Rodriguez." Sponsors were Jose Jimenes and P. Richard.

Was born in San Antonio and lived there off and on until his teens. Attended school at Bowie Elementary School in San Antonio and also at Holden Institute, a private school for "middle class Mexican-Americans" in Laredo, Texas. Worked in cattle ranches as a cowboy until his late forties. Moved to Pearsall and went to work for the Frio County road construction offices. Retired from there after having experienced a heart attack when 65 years old. Later, returned to work for Frio County supervising prisoners from the county jail and after that as a paid caretaker for the historical society in the building that had formerly been used as a Frio County jail. Died when he was 91 years old. Was an outstanding singer. While visiting him in a nursing home, a preacher new to town asked him which was his favorite hymn. The preacher took his song book and sang the first stanza for him, telling him, "That is how that goes." Manuel sang the rest of the hymn without the aid of the book and said, "No, this is how it goes!" The same preacher presided at his funeral and related that story to the mourners. Two nights before he died in the hospital, a niece came to tell him that she had lost an election that had been very important to her. From behind the closed door to his room, nurses and patients alike could hear his strong melodious voice as he sang a love song to his niece, "to cheer her up." Approximately 66 inches tall, weighed about 150 pounds.

More About JUAN MANUEL TAFOLLA:

Fact 1: Worked as a cowboy from time he was a teenager until age 45. Worked as heavy

Fact 2: equipment operator and foreman for Frio County until he was 65. Was an

Fact 3: outstanding singer of Mexican "corridos" and a storyteller of some reknown.

Notes for JUANITA JUAREZ:

Her mother and father operated a meat market in Devine, Texas at one time. As far as I know, she never attended school. Did not speak English but, since all her children were completely bilingual, it was obvious that she understood it very well. Was a diabetic all of her adult life. Counselled all her friends similarly afflicted on the proper way to live with this disease. Was an outstanding cook, keeping all the recipes in her head since she could not read English or Spanish. A great negotiator, could barter anything with anyone. Usually came out ahead.

Owned and operated an automobile repair shop in Uvalde. Specialized in Buicks, often saying that there was no better automobile. Liked to sing and play the banjo. Was elected and served as a judge in Uvalde.

More About SANTANA TAFOLLA:

Fact 1: Operated a Buick repair garage in Uvalde for most of his life. Loved to play

Early in his life, worked in a bakery in Asherton, Texas. Later went to work for Kemper's Grocery Store in Pearsall where he worked the rest of his life. Was a great dancer. Also, enjoyed walking the rails of the railroad line going through Pearsall as he walked from his home to work. Many times I saw him walk a distance of approximately 1/4 mile without losing his balance, all the time having a big smile on his face, obviously having the greatest time.

More About MARION TAFOLLA:

Fact 1: Worked as a baker while a very young man. Later worked for Kemper Grocery store

Fact 2: in Pearsall, Texas. Would receive grocery orders over the telephone, pick the

Fact 3: items and load them onto a pick-up truck. He would then dispatch a driver to

Fact 4: deliver them to the caller, often placing them into the kitchen pantry. Died

28. SANTIAGO7 TAFOLLA (SANTIAGO6, JOSE MARIANO5 TAFOYA, JOSEPH MIGUEL4, PHELIPE3, ANTONIO2, JUAN DETAFOYA1 ALTAMIRANO) was born 1872 in Texas. He married MICAELALA FUENTE. She was born 1877 in Mexico.

Notes for SANTIAGO TAFOLLA:

1920 census shows James at age 48 working as a Deputy for the District Court. Was a charter member of the San Antonio chapter of the Order of the Sons of America, a civil rights group representing Hispanics in South Texas. It later merged with another group and the end result was the present day League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Notes for MICAELALA FUENTE:

1920 census shows Micaela at age 43; entered country in 1880; working as teacher in YWCA. Naturalized in 1897.

Attorney in San Antonio. Charter member of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), 33rd degree Mason, Judge in Corporation Court for Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas. 1920 census shows James entered US in 1900; was working as a chauffer for Service Car. In August 2, 1935 he was appointed as a Special Ranger in the Ranger Force for the State of Texas.

More About JAMES TAFOLLA:

Fact 1: An attorney. Was assistant district attorney for Bexar County and later a judge

Fact 2: in Corporation Court. Was a charter member of LULAC, a 33rd Degree Mason and a

Fact 3: member of the Charros Association.

ii. JOHNNY TAFOLLA, b. 1899, Texas; m. EVELYN DE LA PENA.

Notes for JOHNNY TAFOLLA:

1920 shows John working as a clerk in the City Clerk's office in San Antonio.

Educator in San Antonio area. Served as Assistant Principal at Lanier High School on the West Side of San Antonio for many years.

Fidel took the state examination to teach and earned a position in a one-room school in Hays County. He was the superintendent, the principal, the teacher and the janitor combined. He taught all subjects. He stayed there three years before returning to San Antonio Independent School District. He worked at JT Brackenridge Elementary, Mark Twain Junior High School and Main Avenue High School. When Jefferson High School opened in 1932, he became a member of its first faculty. In 1934, he moved to Lanier High School as a vice-principal and maintained that position until 1963. Before he retired, he had taught the likes of Judge Richard Teniente; U.S. Representative Henry B. Gonzales; Dr. Herbert Calderon; State Senator Dr. Joe Bernal and Robert Lozano. In 1970, the San Antonio Independent School District named its largest, newest and most modern junior high school, Fidel Tafolla Junior High School.